Hunted
by CynicalRomantic09
Summary: Set three years into the future with the heroes as fugitives--spoilerish. After Peter makes a shocking discovery, his relationship with Claire is compromised. Can he fix it before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

Hello everybody!

I don't really know what to say except for the fact that I'm a little new to the Heroes fanfiction world. I've read a few, but never attempted to write one. That being said, I have written fanfiction before, just never one in the Heroes category. It always seemed too intimdating for some reason. But I thought I'd give it a shot because I absolutely love Paire and was so disappointed when it was revealed they were related. And I'm loving Volume 4 and the concept behind it, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. My apologies if it sucks huge.

Uhm, some things to know are that Hiro never lost his teleportation ability, Tracy was rescued from Building 26, and for the purposes of this fiction, I've deemed Peter an empath as far as abilities go. I gave him his original ability back because I'm not too fond of this whole having to touch someone to gain a new power and I really hate that he loses the old one. So in my world, he's pretty much still like the old Peter as far as abilities go.

This will be a few shot probably. I had every intention of it only being a one-shot, and then it just took on a life of its own.

I would like to give a shout out to **Lyonser** and **HopelessRomantic984**. They both previewed this for me and I love them for it! I always tend to get super-nervous before I post stuff, so I hope that you all like this.

Let me know what you think! I love reading comments :)

Now enough of my rambling and on to the first part of the story...

* * *

"Hunted"

_Peter and Claire  
**Manhattan  
Three Years Into The Future**_

They were standing close, too close.

They had just gotten finished doing a mission; he and Claire rescued one of their own—Melinda—after she had been taken hostage and thrown into one of the camps.

The two of them were a team, a great team. They were unstoppable, it seemed. When they had first been paired up, Peter was thoroughly against it. He had initially been concerned that he would always be too worried about keeping Claire safe, but apparently she had learned some pretty impressive defense tactics. She was damn good and she saved his ass more times than he could count. Just like she had tonight.

But there was something she didn't know, something that he had learned at the camp that he kept from her and was still keeping from her.

The camp they had infiltrated tonight was the first camp designed for people with abilities, which meant that his fabulous brother was there quite often. The bastard even had an office set up there.

When they had gotten into the camp, Peter saw Nathan walking down the hall and made himself invisible (thanks to meeting somebody else with an invisibility ability) so he could follow his brother into the office. And what he had discovered had been startling news indeed. Nathan had accepted a phone call and began a heated discussion on the topic, actually.

_"I want you to back off." He paused and looked as though the person on the other line had said something moronically stupid. "Because he's my brother—and she's my daughter!"_

_Peter raised an eyebrow and bit back a grunt at his brother's declaration. The fact that he was his brother didn't mean anything to Nathan and Peter wasn't foolish enough anymore to believe otherwise. But, nevertheless, the comment did manage to strike his interest, so he decided to eavesdrop on the rest of the conversation. He tapped into his brother's brain and heard the rest of the conversation that way. _

"_So now you care about relations, is that it Mr. Petrelli?"_

"_You insignificant ass, I've _always_ cared about my daughter and brother. Especially Claire. Lord knows I tried not to care about her, but I just couldn't help it. She—"_

"_That was your first mistake. Letting yourself care about her, that is. I'm afraid you've been duped. She's not your daughter, sir."_

_Nathan paled and sank down in his chair. "What?"_

"_Meredith lied and forged the documents that proved otherwise. Claire Bennett is not your daughter." Peter felt like the wind was getting knocked out of him. Claire wasn't his niece. This could change everything. _

_Nathan still had said nothing. By now, his brother's face was completely blank and Peter didn't dare dig deeper into his head. _

"_Sir? What do you want us to do?"_

"_How do I know you're telling me the truth? You could easily be lying. I…"_

"_You actually _want _Miss Bennett to be your daughter Mr. Petrelli?"_

_Nathan's jaw clenched and Peter felt surprise filtering through him. He didn't know Nathan cared that much about Claire._

"_I told you. I care about her. Damn it, how can she not be my daughter, Phelps? Where did you get this information?"_

"_A highly reliable source."  
_

"_Who would be?" Nathan said through clenched teeth. The tone in his voice offered no room for defiance. Peter knew him well enough to know this by now. _

"_Mohinder Suresh. We found a file that he'd kept on Miss Bennett when we went through his belongings after we tried capturing him. Any more questions?"_

"_As a matter of fact, yes. Although, it's not so much a question really, more like an order, Mr. Phelps. Send me the results."_

"_I beg your pardon?"_

"_Load your damn proof up on your hard-drive and send it to me! I want to see for myself," he said angrily._

"_Sir, we don't have time—" _

"_If you want to keep your job, you'll _make_ time!"_

_Peter blinked. Claire had no idea how much Nathan loved her. Peter didn't need to get inside Nathan's head to know how much this was eating him up inside. He could see it written all over his face. As happy as he was for Claire that Nathan turned out to care for her after all, he couldn't help the twinge of jealousy that gnawed at him. How much would Nathan care if it turned out they weren't brothers? Considering how many times Nathan's betrayed him already, he shuddered to think what would happen if those family ties were to be lost between them. _

_A message alert went off on Nathan's computer. He shouldn't have been surprised at how quickly that information got processed for Nathan, yet he was. He still couldn't quite believe how fast technology was nowadays. _

_Unable to help himself, Peter rounded over to the desk and saw the computer screen for himself. Nathan was downloading the file and what came up caused Peter's eyes to widen. Claire definitely wasn't Nathan's daughter. The results he was looking at proved that. _

_Nathan was dead silent and Peter couldn't tell what he was thinking. He didn't want to know, either, so he pulled out of his brother's mind and waited. _

_"Do it," he said dully. "If she resists, remember what we talked about and that should do the trick." He continued staring blankly at the wall while his 'friend' went on speaking. "Peter? We need him alive if he's going to be Claire's bait. Don't screw this up Phelps..."_

He still hadn't told Claire about this information. How was he supposed to tell her that Nathan wasn't who she thought he was? She was convinced that there was still a good person in there somewhere, despite all the horrible things he'd done recently.

He shook his head, trying not to think about any of that, and smiled as he started at her and brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. Unsurprisingly, she returned his smile, ten-fold.

"We made a pretty good team back there, Mr. Petrelli. What's all this business about you needing to watch out for me on the missions and keep me safe? I believe I saved your ass tonight," she said with a smirk.

Peter rolled his eyes and started walking away. "Oh come on! Just admit it—you love that I'm your partner. You can say it, it won't kill you."

"Really?"

"It's not that hard. Just say, 'Claire, you rock and I suck."

He turned to look at her with a mock irritancy. He loved that even after all this time underground, after all the camps, she still had her innocence that made her simply Claire. "What are you, seventeen again?"

"Sometimes I wish I were," she whispered quietly, the playfulness suddenly leaving her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"At least if I were seventeen again, you would be more like the Peter that I first met back in Odessa. What happened to him? I swear, I barely recognized you tonight on this mission."

He hardened his face and glared at her. She should know better than to bring stuff like that up. "Claire, don't."

"Why?"

"Look, there's no sense in bringing up the past! I'm not that person anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because, I'm just not!"

"That's a great answer, Peter. That's almost as good as when your parents tell you, 'because I said so'. You have to do better than that," she said stubbornly.

He heaved a sigh of frustration and clenched his fists. "I'm not that person anymore because it's too dangerous to be that person. We can't afford for me to _be _that person."

"I'm still not following."

"I was naïve and stupid. Foolish. I had my head in the clouds."

"You saw the good in everybody; you were optimistic," she argued.

"And now I'm a realist. I see people for what they are now and I'm not childish enough to believe that there's good in everyone anymore. That a good enough answer for you?"

Claire remained silent after his spiel and he was slightly surprised when he saw her eyes sparkling with anger. She looked livid, actually. "So what then? We should all be that way now, too? Just because of the camps and hiding out underground, we shouldn't trust anyone anymore?"

"Claire," he said with a sigh.

"No, tell me the truth, because I'm trying really hard to understand. I was ready to quit believing in people, but you showed me that it was okay to still believe in them and in the kindness of strangers… you restored my faith in people, Peter. Why won't you let me help you with whatever it is you're dealing with?"

"I'm sorry, what is it that I'm supposed to be dealing with exactly?"

"I don't know—I just know something's caused this change in you. I noticed it after about the first year of being on the run and you kept me from getting captured. It was after you tasered them and it seemed like that flipped some sort of switch in you. What happened?"

"Just let it go, please," he said quietly.

She was far more observant than he'd given her credit for. Seeing her being taken away by those goons triggered something inside of him. Perhaps it opened his eyes as to what Nathan really was for the first time. Whatever the reason, he didn't like to think about that day much. He'd nearly been too late and Claire had almost gotten captured because of his stupidity. Who knows what they would have done to her if they'd succeeded…

"No." She paused for a second and then her eyes widened. It was almost like seeing somebody have a light bulb go off in their head. "This is about Nathan, isn't it?" Peter shook his head and started laughing while he tried walking away. Jesus, why did he let her in so much? It was times like these, moments when Claire didn't need a stupid mind-reading ability to get inside his head that he regretted being so open with her.

He was hoping she would just let him walk away, but he should have known better. Claire was determined. She wouldn't let it be. "Laugh all you want, but I'm right, aren't I? This has everything to do with him."

"So what if it does? He's proven to me more times than one that people suck."

"Come on—he's your brother and you know that deep down, he cares about you."

"Will you listen to yourself?! It's because of him that I'm on the run with you!"

"Okay, so maybe _really_ deep down. Deep, deep."

"No. He doesn't give a shit about me and I know that. He is not a good person anymore Claire—he hasn't been for a long time. His vision is warped, just like our father's was. He thinks he's doing good, but he's not. He's one of the bad guys now and the sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be." She didn't say anything, and he took this opportunity to continue on with his rant before she could interject. "Do you really think he would watch out for you if it ever turned out that you weren't a Petrelli?"

He was being an ass and he knew it. But damn it, he had to make her see. It was too reckless to let her go on living in some fantasy world. "No answer? Well I'll tell you what would happen and fill in the blanks for you; he'd drop you in a heartbeat, just like he'd do to me if by some bizarre set of circumstances I wasn't really his brother."

He thought back to what Nathan had said to him after he saved him from the explosion at Pinehearst. He remembered why he was on the run in the first place. It was because of Nathan, because he kept sending people after him. So really, who was he kidding; if he was trying to make Claire see the light, then the least he should do was be honest with himself. "Hell, he'd drop me no matter what. He _did_ drop me."

Claire shut her eyes and Peter's heart nearly broke as a single tear fell down her left cheek. And when she opened her eyes, the look she gave him was even worse than seeing stray tears fall.

He tried to reach out to her, but she pulled back, shook her head, and walked away from him. "Claire…"

She didn't pause, didn't even look back as she walked off in the night.

He wanted to give her space and do what was right, but he also knew that he couldn't leave her alone, not when he knew that Nathan was going to be coming after her. So he put up the guise that she had won and that he was going to let her walk away, but he had every intention of teleporting after her.

He never realized how much he would miss that ability until his father had taken it away from him. Luckily when he'd injected himself with that formula, it had given him his empath ability back. At first, he thought he just had the ability to fly like Nathan, but then when he was around Claire again and he'd gotten hurt, he'd healed.

When he had initially been given his powers back, he couldn't keep them all at the same time. He'd also had to touch someone to gain the ability. But now he didn't even have to have physical contact. He basically had regained his old power again. It was strange—he didn't know how he got control of it, either. Maybe he was meant to be an empath. Whatever the reason, he was thankful to be one again. It was definitely useful. Claire on the other hand wasn't quite as happy about it. Especially after he regained his teleportation ability from Hiro and kept using it to pop in and check on her. Given the circumstances of their situation, though, there weren't many spots for her to hide out and he usually found her quite easily and often didn't even need to teleport.

For the moment, a bunch of them were holed up in a condemned warehouse building. It was bleak—most of it was concrete and offered no kind of comfort at all. But it served its purpose well. There was enough space for all of them and allowed them remain inconspicuous. Plus, they'd come across someone with a handy ability. Melinda, the woman they'd rescued earlier, had a kind of shield ability. With her ability protecting them, it made it nearly impossible for Nathan's goons to find them. Peter was still worried as to how they'd captured her in the first place, but that was another problem they'd deal with later. More than likely, they'd be packing up camp soon to avoid any risks of possible detection. If they could find somebody who can shield, it wouldn't be long before they were all found.

After a few minutes of waiting, he thought about Claire and went right to her. She was sitting on the highest point of their hideout building with her arms crossed over the railing. She had her chin resting on her wrists and she was staring down below them, watching everybody gathered there, hiding out and waiting.

A long time ago, he'd promised her to never look inside her head, and he'd done a pretty damn good job of keeping that promise. But the temptation was too strong right now. He had to know what she was thinking.

_Peter's right. I don't know who I was kidding, believing in Nathan like that. If he could drop his own brother and turn against him like this, why should I keep thinking that he'll change? God, this whole situation is so screwed up, us being on the run like this. How long's it going to be before Peter gets sick of this and leaves us all behind… leaves me?_

"Never, Claire," he said determinedly after he pulled out of her head. "I'm never going to leave you behind. Not ever."

Her head snapped up and she glared at him. "Stay out of my head, Petrelli. It's rude to eavesdrop on peoples' thoughts."

Peter winced at that. "I'd really prefer it if you didn't call me Petrelli. It's kind of embarrassing to be associated with Nathan."

"And I'd prefer it if you didn't read my thoughts, but to quote The Rolling Stones, 'you can't always get what want,' Peter."

"I guess I walked into that one. I'm sorry, I am. I guess… I don't know, I wanted to know what you were thinking for once."

Claire laughed a humorless laugh that caused Peter to cringe. When had their relationship gotten to this point? Was it because of all the crazy things that have happened over the years with them being fugitives? Or did their relationship change because of them, or, he supposed if he were to be more accurate, because of him?

"And how do you think I feel, Peter?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I would give anything to be able to peek inside your head just once. Do you even realize how hot and cold you are with me anymore? You know, I used to be able to read you pretty well. You were Peter Petrelli, the one guy everyone could count on to do the right thing. But now… I swear, I don't even know you anymore. You're so unpredictable and to be honest, it scares me sometimes." She paused and shut her eyes. "Do you even realize the games you've been playing with my head?"

"Claire—"

"No, don't 'Claire' me. I mean what was that before we went to go rescue Melinda from that camp?"

Peter cursed under his breath as he thought about said event. They were in a wrestling match of sorts that had turned into Peter pinning Claire down and tickling her until they had locked eyes. Suddenly it wasn't so playful anymore and everything turned far more serious. He'd traced his forefinger down the length of her cheek and her breathing had sped up. He'd leaned down, fully ready and intending to kiss her when thankfully, they'd been interrupted because his phone went off. Mohinder had called and they'd been given the news that Melinda had been taken.

But that wasn't the only time things had gotten out of control like that. There had been a few other times when things had started out completely innocent and then for some reason, Peter would lose control of his head and let his emotions over-rule.

"Is it fun, messing with my head the way you do?"

"Stop right there," he said angrily. "Do you think this easy for me? I can't make any sense out of whatever it is that's happening between us. I've felt it since day one. God help me, I tried really hard to ignore it, but it's been getting stronger and stronger with each passing day and it's not going away." He paused and sucked in a wary breath. "Please, try and understand. I'm trying to protect you from me, Claire."

"That's the biggest load of shit I've heard from you yet."

"Excuse me?"

"You think I don't remember what you told me three years ago when we were running from those goons that Pinehearst sent after us?" He stiffened and swore under his breath yet again. Damn it, he should have kept his mouth shut back then. "That's right. I shoot you," she said bitterly. "I've been playing that conversation over and over in my head; it's like a broken record and I'd give anything to make it stop. It happens soon, doesn't it?" she asked quietly. He shut his eyes, refusing to respond. It did happen soon. In the very near future, actually. A little over a half a year now. "Doesn't it?" she prodded.

"I don't know! This isn't the future I saw. It's similar, but circumstances are different, so new paths may have been chosen. It's all very complicated."

"Forget what's happening _now_, Peter. That's not what I asked. In the future that you saw happen, the time's coming soon where I'm supposed to shoot you, isn't it?"

Clearly she wasn't letting this go any time soon, so he really had no choice but to answer. She was certainly determined, he'd give her that. Normally, he admired that about her, and he supposed he did now, even though that particular personality trait wasn't exactly working in his favor right now. "Yes," he whispered.

"I thought so."

"So what—what does that have to do with anything?" he bit out irritably.

"Oh come on, Peter. If you're not going to be honest with me, at least be honest with yourself. You're not doing this to protect _me_. You're protecting yourself _from_ me."

"Is that what you think?" he asked, not bothering to keep the shock out of his voice. "Is it?"

"How could I not?"

"No!" he said forcefully as he pulled her into a standing position, trying to force her to look at him. He grabbed either side of her face and waited until she finally was looking at him in his eyes. "No. That is not what this is about, Claire. Please believe me."

"Why?"

"Look in my eyes. You've always been able to tell when I'm lying. I don't know how you do it, you just can."

She smirked, though her eyes still held a sadness in them. "You're just a shitty liar, that's all."

He chuckled and let his hands fall down to her shoulders. "That I am. Which is why I'm surprised you even had to question why I've been all over the place with you, Claire. In a way, you were kind of right. I have been distancing myself from you." She tried turning her head from him, but he stopped her and held her firmly in place. "But not for the reasons that you think."

"Then why?"

"Claire…"

"Why?"

Instead of verbally responding, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her with everything that he had in him. And she was kissing him back. He didn't know what he was thinking, he just knew that in that moment, he had to kiss her. He had to know what it felt like.

And it felt amazing.

In all the times he'd kissed, he never once felt anything like this. Her lips were wonderful and every bit as soft as he'd imagined them to be, better even.

He heard Claire let out a soft sigh and felt a rumbling laughter build up in his stomach, but to his surprise, he somehow managed to hold it back. Perhaps he knew if he were to start openly laughing at her, it would ruin the moment and that was something he definitely wasn't willing to risk.

Without even thinking about it, his mind connected to hers as he pulled her closer to him. And what he heard in her head knocked his world off its axis. _"Oh God, how can this be happening? This is so wrong, yet it feels so right. I think I'm in love with him…"_

Rather abruptly, he came to his senses and reality slowly started to set it. Reluctantly, he pulled back and stared at her, taking in her dazed expression. How could he have let this happen? How did he not see this coming?

He tugged at his hair, feeling frustrated. God, he was the world's biggest idiot. What was he thinking? It was one thing for him to feel these inappropriate things about this girl that he had been led to believe was his niece (but thankfully turned out to not be related to him at all) and was ten years younger than him—he could at least ignore it and pretend that he didn't feel anything. But to know that she felt the same way made everything worse. And she didn't even have the luxury of knowing that she wasn't his niece! This was sick…

Slowly, Claire's shock started lifting and it seemed as though realization was starting to sink in for her. "Peter, don't. Please," she whispered.

He shook his head and turned away from her, feeling panic settle into his gut. If Nathan ever discovered how he felt, he'd take advantage of it in a heartbeat. And he couldn't let that happen. He wasn't going to let Nathan use Claire. Peter had no problem being used himself, since apparently that's what the plan was. He knew it was coming, but Claire wouldn't have any idea. She was still innocent in all of this and he couldn't ruin that for her. "I can't do this. Not now, not ever. That shouldn't have happened."

"But just a few minutes ago, you said—"

"I know what I said," he replied crossly. "Honestly, I don't know why I said that. It was stupid and I shouldn't have said it in the first place. But what I do know is that _this_," he said as he motioned back and forth between them, "can't happen."

"So what are you saying, then? It was a mistake?"

He hardened his face and as much as his heart was screaming at him to tell her no, that it wasn't a mistake, he knew what he had to do. She couldn't ever know that Nathan wasn't really her father. He had too much to lose if he got anymore emotionally attached to this girl.

He just hoped that she didn't see through the big fat lie that he was getting ready to tell her. He couldn't afford to get this wrong.

Turning around, he made sure that his features were schooled and he knew he was successful when he took in Claire's frown. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Yes," he said, making sure his voice was void of any and all emotion. "I'm sorry I did that to you, Claire. But you know this can't happen—not ever. I'm not good for you."

"No, you are good for me! You're the only one who's ever been there for me every single time I needed someone," she argued.

His eyes narrowed and he walked closer to her, peering down at her. He just hoped he could get this next line out without giving himself away. "Fine. Let me rephrase that. You're not good for me," he said without apology. God, he hated this. He hated seeing her eyes cloud with unshed tears, he hated seeing the pain in them, the pain that he caused her.

_You have to know I'm lying, Claire Bennett! You have to know that I love you too_, he thought desperately. But as he searched her eyes, he knew right then that his performance had been successful. She wasn't questioning one word of his lies. He knew that's what he wanted and that he should have been happy that he accomplished his goal, but happiness was the last emotion running through his body. Still, despite his own misery, he knew he had to keep going with this terrible tirade. If only to protect her from him…

"Besides that, you're my niece. Doesn't that bother you at all?" he asked, trying to lace as much disgust in his voice as possible.

She opened her mouth to say something, but then almost immediately shut it. He was dying to know what she was thinking, but refrained himself from digging into her thoughts.

"Claire, could you—oh." Matt stopped in mid-sentence and looked thoroughly embarrassed. Peter felt annoyed with himself that he didn't even hear someone approaching, and it was even worse that it was Matt because the last thing he needed was Parkman snooping through his thoughts. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was interrupting. I'll just leave you guys alone and come back later."

"No, that's okay. We're done here anyway," she said firmly. "Right, Peter?" Her eyes were like steel; they were closed off and Peter painstakingly acknowledged that this was the first time in a long time that he had absolutely no idea what she was thinking. There wasn't even a hint.

He did his best to keep his face blank and nodded. "Yeah. We're done here, Matt. She's all yours."

"Actually, I just came by to let Claire know that Daphne was looking for her. She had some girl thing to talk to you about," he said with a shrug.

"Okay, I'll go see if I can find her. Thanks, Matt."

"Anytime, cheerleader."

Claire smirked, shot Peter a sidelong glance, and walked away from them. It was all Peter could do to not stare after her as she left them. He was trying really hard to block his thoughts from Matt, but knew he had failed miserably when he was suddenly glared at after Claire was long gone.

"Okay, what the hell did I just walk in on?"

"Nothing."

"Try again. Because what I saw definitely was something."

"Reading peoples' thoughts again, Parkman?" Peter asked moodily as he tried walking away. But Matt wasn't letting this go and he quickly followed Peter's footsteps.

"I don't need to be a mind reader to know that something was going on between you and Claire back there. You couldn't have cut through that tension with a sword. And I'll tell you another thing. I've never seen that girl looking so… I don't know, closed off?"

Peter stopped walking and sighed. "You swear you didn't read her thoughts?"

"Well, not hers," he said guiltily. "Sorry."

"Great," Peter mumbled. "All right, let me have it. I can take it."

"Okay, I'll be honest then. What the hell are you thinkin', Pete? She's your niece! I mean I know you didn't know that the first sixteen years of her life, but still. She—"

"She's not my niece, Matt."

"Come again?"

He nodded and told Matt everything he'd overheard at Nathan's office and the former police officer let out a whistle. "Damn. That's some messed up shit. So I'm confused. If she's not your niece and you like her, why on earth won't you just tell the girl? I'm pretty sure she feels the same way about you."

"It's complicated."

"Why? Because you say it is? What's stopping you from telling her the truth?"

"What else?" he asked moodily. God, he really hated Nathan sometimes. If he wasn't so certain that his brother would use Claire against him at some point, he might consider giving them a shot. But as long as Claire was vulnerable, there wasn't a chance in hell that he'd be willing to put her at risk.

Matt nodded in understanding and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Nathan."

"It's _always_ Nathan. I hate letting him control my life like this, Matt. First, he forces me to go on the run and go into hiding, and now I can't even be with the one person that I want to be with most in the world."

"Why?"

Peter sighed and leaned against the railing, gripping it tight. "Because. If Nathan ever found out how I felt about Claire, he'd find some way to use that against me. He'd find some way to use _her_ against me. I won't put her through that. Not if I can do something about it."

"Even if that means you being miserable?"

He looked down and saw Claire laughing with Daphne and Tracey and he allowed himself a small, sad, half-hearted smile. He supposed this was how it was going to be from now on, so he might as well get used to it.

"Of course. I went back in time to save her once and I'm pretty sure I failed. She doesn't know it, but she's slowly becoming the Claire that shoots me. I've seen glimpses of it in her when we're on missions. So now I'm going to do everything in my power to protect her from the future I saw—even if that means me being miserable."

"You love her," Matt said with a hint of awe in his voice.

"Yeah, I think I do." Parkman nodded and Peter saw a determined gleam in his eyes before Matt turned to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"To put an end to this."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, Pete. You've sacrificed so much for each and every one of us. You're always there, the big protector. You give those people down there hope, whether you know it or not. And now, I'm going to return the favor and do something for you."

"And what's that?"

"We both know you'll never be able to kill your own brother. Yeah, the future you went back in time to shoot him, but I don't think that was a shoot-to-kill shot. It was sloppy."

"What's your point?" he bit out irritably. He didn't need another person telling him that he was weak. He was already aware of that annoying fact.

"I'm going to take this fight to Nathan. I'll round up some troops that would be willing to go and then I'm going to find your bastard of a brother and end this."

He started walking away but Peter teleported in front of him and Matt stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed his chest from fright. "Show off. You know, a normal person would just run to catch up with me."

Peter shrugged nonchalantly and gave a lazy smirk. "I'm not normal, so why try and pretend anymore?"

"Good point. So what's so important that you had to stop me by using your teleportation thing?"

"Okay, I'm flattered that you want to do something for me and I appreciate it. I really do. But I'm sorry Matt. I can't let you do this by yourself."

"Did you hear me? I won't be by myself. There's going to be enough people willing to help take down Nathan, I guarantee it."

"I'm not disputing that. But this is my fight. I need to be the one to bring Nathan down," he said determinedly. "I won't deny any of you the chance to fight—but leave Nathan to me." Peter glanced down at Claire and this time, she caught his stare. They locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity until Claire broke the stare-down first. "I won't let him win this."

Matt nodded in apparent understanding. "I'll go get everybody rounded up."

"Thanks. I'll talk to Claire, though. She's not going to be too happy with me when she hears she's not fighting."


	2. Chapter 2

Hey there!

I know it's been a while since the last update, but time has just gotten away from me. I apologize!

I haven't really decided if it's all going to be wrapped up by the next section or not. I'm going to try to keep this as a three-shot, but I'm not quite sure what it will turn out to be.

Anyway, thanks to all those who reviewed! Glad you enjoyed it.

Now, on to the next chapter and keep those reviewes coming! I love 'em :)

* * *

"Like hell I'm not fighting!" she exclaimed angrily.

Peter rolled his eyes and went on about his business trying to brace himself for the tantrum he knew was coming. He'd tried to talk to her sooner, but as it was, time hadn't allowed it. He, Matt, and Mohinder—and sometimes Tracey—had all been forming battle plans, drawing up teams, and trying to figure out transportation. He had a lot of work to do and little time to do it. It was two days after he and Matt had made their declaration to take Nathan down and it was now crunch-time. At the moment, he was studying a blueprint of Building 26 and reviewing their attack plan. He definitely didn't have time for arguments.

"This is not up for negotiation. It's too risky," he said with finality as he finally looked up from the print.

Her eyes were furious with indignation. She looked as though she wanted to kick, punch, and scream at him all at the same time. And he was surprised that she didn't try. "You know I can fight, Peter! Why is this time any different than the others?"

"Because it's Nathan! Do you really think that if it came down to it, you'd be able to kill your own father?"

He tried keeping his face blank as he referred to Nathan as her father. He didn't like lying to her, but at the same time, he felt as though he didn't have much of a choice. He'd actually considered running for a brief moment or two after they'd returned from camp headquarters, but then he'd thought about all of the people he'd be leaving behind. Not to mention he realized he'd be leaving Claire unprotected, which he wasn't willing to do. So, he'd suck it up and continue with the lie that she was a Petrelli. As much as it killed him to do so, he'd do it.

He stared at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. As it was, she still had yet to say yes or no. She was hesitating, which was exactly what couldn't happen when they went to that building today.

"Could you?" he prompted again.

"Of course," she said unconvincingly. "I'd do what I have to do."

"No, you wouldn't," he said softly. "And I wouldn't want you to have to make that decision."

"You can't protect me forever, Peter!"

"I can try. I want you to give me your word that you won't follow us tonight. The whole point of this fight is to bring down Nathan, which means that I'm going to have to kill him and I don't want you to be in the line of fire."

"I can't die," she argued angrily.

He was growing impatient with her and needed another task to focus on so he wouldn't strangle her, so he moved over to their artillery stock. It wasn't much selection, but he found a gun that worked for him quite easily. "So? You're not invincible, Claire! Just because you can heal, doesn't mean they can't hurt you in other ways."

"I will be fine! I'm not made of glass, okay? I'm tougher than any of you give me credit for. Besides, I'm your partner. It would be stupid and reckless to go in with someone new for a mission this huge," she pointed out. "Furthermore, what if _you_ back out? You're not a killer," she added quietly.

He shrugged as he finished loading the gun. "I'm teaming up with Parkman tonight. I'll be good."

Against his will, he thought back to their kiss, replaying it in his head. He couldn't ever remember a time he'd felt more alive than in that moment. Not even when he'd been with Simone or Caitlin. Yeah, he loved both of them, but they hadn't been _Claire_. The onslaught of memories flashed mercilessly in his mind, taunting him. He remembered all the times that she'd cried into his shoulder, looking to him for comfort, all the times he'd made her laugh. Her smile that she seemed to save just for him.

And then he thought about her shooting him without even flinching. She'd held so much hatred in her eyes that sometimes it still shocked him. Well, he wouldn't let that happen. He clenched his jaw, feeling more determined than ever to stop this. "And don't worry. I won't back down, either. All of this running—it's going to end. Tonight," he said as he placed the weapon in his back pocket after making sure the safety was on.

"And I want to be there to see it and be a part of it, damn it! You're not being fair."

"And I _don't_ want you to see it. I need to be able to focus and if you're there, I'll just worry about you and constantly wonder if you're safe or not. Try and understand that. Please."

She gave a sardonic smirk and folded her arms. "Why Peter, you almost make it sound like you care. Oh but wait, we both know that's not true, right?"

"Damn it, Claire! Don't do this. Not tonight," he warned.

Her eyes practically turned to steel and she lifted her chin defiantly. "I want to be in on this. I have a right to be there. You can't stop me."

He raised an eyebrow and knew right then that he wouldn't be able to stop her unless he took drastic measures. She'd try and find some way to be a part of this fight, but he wasn't going to allow it. He had more abilities to work with than her and he had every intention of using that to his advantage. She was right—healing was a lame power. "Wanna bet?"

He grabbed onto her arm and teleported them to an abandoned county jail in Odessa. If memory served him right, this was the exact cell he'd been in the night of that homecoming game. He had no idea why they stopped using it, but it accommodated them quite efficiently, so he didn't question it much.

When Claire recognized their surroundings, she started throwing punches as soon as he released her arm. "You can't do this! Damn you Peter, take me back now!"

"Sorry Claire. But I need you safe."

"So you're going to lock me in a jail cell?!"

"That's the plan," he responded with a half-bored, half-smug tone.

"You can't keep me here!"

"Watch me."

She glowered at him and Peter was fairly certain that the expression 'if looks could kill' applied to him at the moment. He would be dead and rotting if she could have it her way—of that, he was sure.

"I hate you," she breathed.

Her eyes filled with tears and she didn't bother blinking them back. Normally, he hated seeing her cry, but at the moment, he was thankful for those tears. It showed him that she didn't _really_ hate him, but that she was just in pain. For that reason, he couldn't seem to bring himself to listen in on her thoughts and see what she was really thinking. It seemed wrong somehow. She was lashing out and he knew that it was because of what happened earlier, not what he was doing to her now.

Even though he felt he knew what was going on inside her head, it didn't stop the ache in his chest at her words. Whoever said 'words can't hurt' obviously didn't know what they were talking about.

"Good," he lied. "If you want to hate me, that's fine by me. More than fine. But at least you're going to be safe while you're hating me." She threw him one final glare and turned her back on him, knowing that she'd lost this battle.

"Look, I know you don't understand why I'm doing this and you think I'm being completely unreasonable. But there's something you need to know. Before we met up again when we first had to go into hiding, your dad contacted me somehow. I still don't know how he found me, but he told me that you were determined to fight with everyone else. He didn't want to let you go, but he knew that there wasn't a way to stop you—once you make your mind, there's no changing it. So he made me promise to keep you safe and protect you. Your dad trusts me with the most important thing in his life and I'm not going to let him down," he finished quietly.

Peter looked down at the ground and shut his eyes, letting out a resigned sigh. "I wish I could tell you I was sorry for this, but I can't." He opened his eyes and prepared himself to teleport back to New York. He was well aware she wasn't going to be saying anything to him any time soon. "I'll come back for you whenever this is finished," he said.

He was getting ready to teleport when Claire's barely audible voice stopped him. "Wait." She didn't turn around, but there was something in the tone of her voice that was stopping him from going. "Be careful," she whispered.

At that moment, he was glad that Claire's back was turned to him because he couldn't stop the smirk playing at his lips. Relief flooded him and he didn't ever think that hearing two simple words could be as freeing as this.

It took everything in him to not walk up behind her and give her a kiss on the top of her head. He wanted nothing more than to sneak up to her and wrap his arms around her waist and hold onto her forever. But he couldn't do that and he knew it.

So his smirk turned into a smile as he took one last look at Claire before leaving. "I will."

When he got back to the warehouse, he finished getting things ready. He, Matt, and Mohinder discussed tactics one last time to make sure they were all in agreement. Mohinder was talking about the partners, but Peter was only half-listening. He already knew everything and it was just making him more nervous reviewing it again. Everyone would pair off (but they would be included in two teams total), get the camp surrounded, and if everything went smoothly, it would leave him, Matt, and Mohinder the opportunity to get to Nathan's office.

After they finished reviewing the plan for the last time, they went down into the open floor area of the warehouse where everyone was on edge and nervous. He was nervous, too; he'd be lying if he said he weren't. They'd spent the majority of the last three years avoiding this place, and now, nearly every single one of them that had been brought together because of this stupid place, was going to attack it.

Peter looked at the selection of people warily. Apparently, somehow word had gotten out to other fugitives about the fight taking place tonight. Unsurprisingly, every one of them that had heard wanted their chance to fight back so they could get their lives back. They got at least ten new additions to their fairly small crew. Peter smiled as he thought about the advantage they had now. Every single one of them had an ability, whereas those people they were going up against had none.

Still, something felt off.

He glanced over at Tracey, who had a solemn look on her face. He couldn't really tell what she was thinking, but something was stopping him from invading her privacy. He had a feeling that Nathan was on her mind right now and he definitely knew he didn't need to be inside her head right now if that was the case.

Most of these people gathered with him, including Hiro, Ando, Matt, Tracey, and Mohinder, all knew Nathan before his brother turned his back on them. This was going to be an inner-struggle for most of them.

"You ready?" Matt asked him tentatively.

"No. Let's go."

* * * *

They were at the camp, ready to execute their plans. It felt like it had taken a lifetime for everybody to get there. He'd taken Matt and Mohinder first and teleported, while Hiro took Ando and Melinda. Daphne ran with Tracey. Then the three of them had to go back for the others. It was a long process and Peter was glad to be finished with it.

"What's the matter?" Matt asked as they were waiting for the front line to go in.

"Something doesn't feel right."

His eyes narrowed and he whispered, "Are you sure you're ready for this Peter?"

"What do you mean, going after Nathan? It's not that. It's something else."

"If it's not Nathan, then what's bothering you?"

"I'm not sure. Something's just wrong." Matt glanced away and Peter studied him curiously. His friend was trying to keep something from him, that much he knew. So he tried to read his thoughts, but apparently, Matt could sense that he was trying to and managed to mostly block his attempt. But there was one thing Peter did manage to catch and it put him in a foul mood. "What about Claire?" he asked crossly.

"Ugh—you know it really sucks that you can sponge off other peoples' abilities, Petrelli."

"What about Claire?" he asked again. Matt sighed and turned towards Peter, looking hesitant in whatever it was he was about to say. "Spit it out, Parkman."

"I think we both know what's bothering you."

"Care to fill me in? Because I'd love to know what's bothering me," Peter said sarcastically.

"Claire should be here and you know it," he whispered. "What you did wasn't fair. I know you think you're protecting her, but she is your partner. Not me. You guys started this thing out together and now, you should finish it together."

Peter groaned, knowing Matt was right. That was the off feeling he was having. Claire should be here and he knew he hadn't been fair in trying to keep her out of this. He cursed himself for caving and changing his mind so quickly. "If anything happens to her, Noah Bennett is going to kill me."

"After everything we've seen and been through, you're still scared of Noah Bennett?" he asked with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

He could laugh all he wanted, but there was nothing worse than facing an angry father. He'd seen Noah's wrath and it wasn't something he wished to repeat any time soon.

"Yes," he replied honestly.

"Well, we'll watch out for her, then. Don't worry. And besides, you know Claire's one hell of a fighter. How many times has she—"

"Saved my ass? More times than I care to count. Damn it," he swore under his breath. "Don't go in without us."

Matt raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Us?"

"Whatever," Peter mumbled.

He quickly teleported back to Odessa and ignored the rumbling laughter of Matt Parkman that he'd heard before he'd gone.

When he got back to the jail cell, he found Claire pacing, looking worried sick. As soon as she saw him, she threw her arms around his neck, surprising the hell out of him. It seemed as though any animosity she'd held towards him had vanished. It made him wonder what changed in the short time he'd been gone. "Peter! You're back already?" She stepped back from him and glanced at him curiously. "Wait. You couldn't have finished it that quickly."

He didn't say anything; he just grabbed her by the hand and quickly teleported them back to the campsite and needless to say, when they got there, she looked thoroughly confused. "I don't understand."

"It didn't feel right without you," he said quietly. "Just be careful, please."

She smiled and threw her arms around him without hesitation. "Thank you. I won't let you down."

She quickly kissed him on the cheek and started talking to Matt and Mohinder about what the plan was and Peter instantly started second-guessing himself. Had he done the right thing?

"I'm not worried about being let down. I'm worried about keeping you alive," he whispered to nobody.

Matt popped his head up from his conversation with Claire and motioned for him to come over. "Hey Pete, you comin' or what?"

He forced a smile. "Yeah," he said as he walked over towards them. "Did you give her the run-through?"

His friend nodded, but it was Claire who spoke up. "Yep. It's a good plan. Who came up with it?"

Matt smirked and pointed at Peter while Claire raised her eyebrows in apparent shock. This caused Peter to become a little grouchy. Why was it so shocking that he had developed this? "You came up with this?"

"Yes! Is it really that hard to believe?"

"No, I just—"

"Look whatever," he said agitatedly. "Matt, you got the walkie-talkie ready to go?" He took it out of his pocket and waved it, and Peter took that as a yes. "Let's do this, then." He looked at Claire, who was clearly nervous now. "You ready?" She nodded and Peter signaled Parkman to contact Hiro and Ando who were heading up the front line.

"Okay then. Here goes nothing," Matt said nervously. "Batman and Robin, do you read me? Over."

Peter and Claire turned their heads towards Matt and Peter cocked an eyebrow. "Batman and Robin? Really?"

Matt shrugged. "What? It was all I could think of."

"This is Batman and Robin. We read you loud and clear, over," Ando replied.

Peter grinned as Matt smirked into the walkie talkie. He could only imagine what he had come up with for Daphne and Tracey. "Speed Racer and Freeze, do you read me? Over?" Peter actually laughed outrright at that, knowing that Tracey wouldn't find it quite as amusing.

"Cute, Parkman," Tracey said grumpily. "Yeah, we read you. Over."

"All systems are a go. What now?"

"Now? We attack them with everything we've got." Matt, Mohinder, and Claire all glanced at Peter warily and Matt handed over the communication device, which he reluctantly accepted. He spoke into the walkie-talkie and could feel his heart pounding. "Team one. Move in."

"Roger that. Moving in."

Parkman patted him on the back in a job well-done gesture. He caught Claire studying him, but when they locked eyes, she quickly looked away and he sighed. They would have to have a talk, but he couldn't afford to think about that now. He had other things on his mind—like the fact that he was endangering the lives of the people he cared about most and people who were perfect strangers to him. They were all trusting him and he just said 'go' without knowing what the outcome would be.

He hoped everybody was ready because this was it. There was no going back.


End file.
